Chief secy sets up core group to supervise road repairs by civic agencies

Chief Secretary Jayant Kumar Banthia on Saturday expressed unhappiness over lack of coordination between the various agencies undertaking road repairs in Mumbai, and called for setting up of a core group under the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to navigate through the road mess.

Chief Secretary Jayant Kumar Banthia on Saturday expressed unhappiness over lack of coordination between the various agencies undertaking road repairs in Mumbai, and called for setting up of a core group under the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to navigate through the road mess.

Banthia voiced his concern at the meeting of the Empowered Committee on Mumbai held at the state secretariat. Other citizen members of the committee asked the government to tackle the issue of bad roads on priority. "Every year, the issue of bad roads crops up. Citizens have repeatedly asked for better roads, but the government has not been able to deliver. Why is it that a city like Mumbai that has global aspirations not have good roads," asked Narinder Nayar, a member of the Empowered Committee.

The core group under the BMC commissioner will now be responsible for monitoring all road repair work carried out by the various agencies including the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, Public Works Department etc.

"Coordination between these agencies will ensure, for instance, that no major work is undertaken just before the monsoon or no two agencies undertake similar work," said a senior official. Banthia is likely to call a meeting of the various agencies next week to work out the details.

It was decided that a delegation of officials would go to Singapore to study how the local administration has tackled the issue of utilities.

Banthia also asked the civic body to map the network of different utilities on arterial roads, after officials complained that repair or laying of utility cables spoilt newly-made roads.